After dream medal, marriage on cards for Yogeshwar

London/Sonipat - Olympic bronze medallist Yogeshwar Dutt said Sunday he had finally achieved his dream of winning an Olympic medal. His mother announced her son was now ready for marriage.

Yogeshwar Saturday won the bronze in men’s 60 kg freestyle wrestling.

“I’m happy to have achieved my dream. This is what I have always wanted. I was hungry for this medal,” he told reporters in London.

In his village Bhanswal Kalan in Haryana’s Sonipat district, 75 km from Delhi, Yogeshwar’s mother told the media that wedding bells were in the offing for the wrestler.

“I had told him that I will not get him married till he got an Olympic medal. He has fulfilled that. We will arrange his marriage soon,” Sushila Devi, mother of the 29-year-old medallist, said in the village.

His three sisters and two brothers are all married, his brother Mukesh said.

After his stunning performance to win the bronze medal, celebrations broke out in his village.

The wrestler’s family members and fellow villagers burst firecrackers, distributed sweets and danced till Saturday night after he won the bronze.

The celebrations continued Sunday with scores of people from nearby villages pouring in to congratulate the family.

The Haryana government has announced a reward of Rs.1 crore for the wrestler who came from behind and won three wrestling matches in a span of 45 minutes to give India its fifth medal in the London Olympics.

“I could not achieve anything in the last two Olympics. I lost in the quarterfinals in Beijing. This time I had to do it and I am glad I did,” said an elated Yogeshwar.

This is the highest ever Olympic medal haul for India.

“I want to thank my family and people who gave me their blessings. I also want to thank god without whom this would not have been possible.”

The wrestler had been plagued by injuries but overcame them to win the country its third ever wrestling medal since K.D. Jadhav and Sushil Kumar won bronze in Helsinki (1952) and Beijing (2008) respectively.

“After 2008, I thought of preparing for London. I had many injuries. In this sport injuries are a part of the game.

“I concentrated on the idea of winning and not on injuries, and this medal is a result of it.”

Congratulating the wrestler, Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda said Yogeshwar was the third from Haryana after shooter Gagan Narang and badminton star Saina Nehwal to win medals in London.

Though Saina and Narang do not live in Haryana, they have also been rewarded Rs.1 crore each by the Haryana government since they have their family roots in the state.